I GIUDICI ANTI-ESECUZIONI DOVREBBERO DIMETTERSI

NEW YORK, 5 FEB - Il giudice della Corte Suprema Antonin Scalia, un fervente cattolico, ha sfidato la posizione del Vaticano sulla pena di morte: ''I giudici cattolici contrari alle esecuzioni farebbero meglio a dimettersi'', ha dichiarato nel corso di una conferenza alla Georgetown University, un ateneo gesuita di Washington.

   ''Ci ho pensato a lungo, e non me la sento di condividere la dottrina della Chiesa'', ha detto Scalia che ogni domenica prega con la moglie Maureen e i nove figli (uno e' sacerdote) in una parrocchia della Virginia vicina all'Opus Dei che ha costruito un 'cimitero' per i bambini non nati.

   Il piu' conservatore e il piu' controverso 'togato' degli Stati Uniti ha aggiunto che ''per 2000 anni la tradizione della Chiesa e' stata a favore della pena capitale. Nulla per quel che mi risulta ha sconfessato questa tradizione''.

   La posizione che il Vaticano ha adottato con papa Giovanni Paolo Secondo e' ovviamente agli antipodi: il pontefice si e' schierato con fermezza contro la pena di morte e ha personalmente rivolto appelli a leader politici di tutto il mondo, tra cui George W. Bush quando era governatore del Texas,

per la salvezza dei condannati.

   Nel 1999 lo stesso Papa ha equiparato pena di morte,

eutanasia, aborto e suicidio assistito, quattro azioni accomunate a suo avviso da un'unica ''cultura della morte''.

   Ma Scalia, un ex allievo di Georgetown, non ha accettato questa equiparazione: e ha spiegato che a suo parere ''l'unica scelta possibile per un giudice che ritiene le esecuzioni immorali sono le dimissioni'' perche' altrimenti, ''ignorando le leggi costituzionali, saboterebbe la pena di morte'' 

Mon Feb 4

Scalia Questions Church's Position 

WASHINGTON  - Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on Monday criticized his church's position against the death penalty, saying that Catholic judges who believe capital punishment is wrong should resign.

 Photos

AP Photo     The devout Roman Catholic said after giving it "serious thought" he could not agree with the church's stand on the issue.

 Scalia questioned the church's opposition to the death penalty late last month at a conference on the subject in Chicago. He was asked about it again Monday at Georgetown University, a Catholic school.

 The Vatican under Pope John Paul II has been strongly anti-death penalty, and the pope has personally appealed to leaders to commute death sentences. In 1999, he said capital punishment, abortion, euthanasia and assisted suicide are part of a "culture of death."

 Scalia told Georgetown students that the church has a much longer history of endorsing capital punishment.

 "No authority that I know of denies the 2,000-year-old tradition of the church approving capital punishment," he said. "I don't see why there's been a change."

 Scalia, a father of nine, including one priest, attended Georgetown as an undergraduate and later taught there as a visiting professor. He talked about the cultural move away from faith before answering questions from students.

 In Chicago on Jan. 25, Scalia said, "In my view, the choice for the judge who believes the death penalty to be immoral is resignation rather than simply ignoring duly enacted constitutional laws and sabotaging the death penalty." His remarks were transcribed by the event sponsor, the Pew Forum.

 Scalia said Monday that "any Catholic jurist (with such concerns) ... would have to resign."

 "You couldn't function as a judge," he said.

 Some in the crowd applauded when a female student asked Scalia to reconcile his religious beliefs with his capital punishment votes on the court. Scalia, 65, is one of the court's most conservative members and has consistently upheld capital cases.

 Freshman Sean Kiernan said later that he was disappointed that Scalia talked about the importance of his religion, then took a stand contradicting the church. "I don't think it's correct," he said.

 "He's got a lot of courage and conviction," said Stephen Feiler, the student who organized the event to celebrate Jesuit heritage.